101.   Shares were down on the Singapore stock exchange and the Malaysian ringgit slipped.

102.   Since the economic crisis began in July, the Malaysian ringgit has lost half its value.

103.   Since then, speculators have shifted their attacks to other Southeast Asian currencies, notably the Philippine peso, the Malaysian ringgit and the Indonesian rupiah.

104.   Since Asian currency crisis began in July, the Malaysian ringgit has lost nearly half its value against the U.S. dollar.

105.   Southeast Asian currencies were generally weaker Wednesday, led by the fall of the Malaysian ringgit on negative economic news.

106.   Speculators took advantage of the situation to speculate against Asian currencies, particularly the Indonesian rupiah, Malaysian ringgit, Thai baht and the Philippine peso.

107.   The Asian financial crisis has caused the Malaysian ringgit to lose almost half its value against the U.S. dollar since July.

108.   The baht in fact has become stronger than those of competing nations such as the Philippines and is on a par with the Malaysian ringgit and the Singapore dollar.

109.   The devaluation of the baht triggered speculative attacks on the Malaysian ringgit, the Indonesian rupiah, the Filipino peso, the Korean won and the Hong Kong dollar.

110.   The Brunei dollar is stronger than the Malaysian ringgit.